SAINT VINCENT COLLEGE HOSTS HISTORY CONFERENCE

Saint Vincent College will host the Western Pennsylvania Regional Conference of Phi Alpha Theta, an international honor society in history, at the Fred M. Rogers Center on Saturday, March 17.

Hosted by Saint Vincent College’s Xi Nu chapter of Phi Alpha Theta and its History Forum, the one day conference will bring together 60 scholars from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia to present academic papers on a variety of historical topics.

Keynote speaker will be Dr. Kathy Callahan of Kentucky’s Murray State University at 2 p.m. Her talk is entitled, “Women and Crime in London in the Late 18th Century.”

Dr. Callahan teaches World Civilizations and Cultures and British history courses at Murray State. She earned her Ph.D. in history from Marquette University, after defending her dissertation, “Women, Crime and Work: The Case of London, 1783-1815.”

Five session I presentations will be given from 9:30 to 11 a.m. The first, 19th Century Men, moderated by Gillis Harp of Grove City College, includes John Hayward of Grove City College, “It is Providence: The Life and Thought of Isaac C. Ketler;” Gary W. Flavion of Washington and Jefferson College, “Abraham Lincoln: A Man Transformed;” and Michael Clinger of Saint Vincent College, “Plow, Hammer and Mass: the Saint Vincent Lay Brothers.” The second morning presentation, Observations on 18th Century Life, moderated by W. Thomas Mainwaring of Washington and Jefferson College, includes Rebekah Parsons of Grove City College, “Samuel Adams: A Radical Puritan;” and Joshua Catalano of Saint Vincent College, “John Adams: Unappreciated in 19th Century Schoolbooks.” The third morning session, Diplomatic Issues in Three Centuries, moderated by Dr. Tim Kelly of Saint Vincent College, includes Corrine Gressang of Grove City College, “Seminary of thieves: Tortuga and Port Royal in the 17th Century;” William Lewis of Washington and Jefferson College, “The Battle for Sullivan’s Island;” and Richard Kriebel of Grove City College, “Onward Christian Marxists: Roman Catholicism in the Sandinista Revolution.” The fourth morning session, 20th Century Social Issues, moderated by Kristin Collins-Breyfogle of Mercyhurst University, includes Jessica Turriziani of Saint Vincent College, “Anti-Female Genital Cutting Legislation and the Movement to Eradicate the Practice;” Zara Wallace of Saint Vincent College, “Brown vs. Board of Education Revisited: Lack of Progress in Miami-Dade School District;” and Casey Wertz of Saint Vincent College, “Wigwams, Wampum, and the Connecticut Valley Red Men’s Council of the Improved Order of Red Men, 1919-1949.” The final morning session, Women in the World, moderated by Dr. Tina Philips Johnson of Saint Vincent College, includes Elizabeth Eidnier of Mercyhurst University, “Mary Wollstonecraft: An Advocate of Equal Education;” Jessica Mathias of West Virginia University, “These Times Tried Women’s Hearts: Gender and Independence in West Virginia During the Civil War;” and Savannah Sprowls of Washington and Jefferson College, “The Plight of Migrant Women in Modern China.”

Five session II presentations will be given from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. The first, Conflict in the 20th Century, moderated by James Siekmeier of West Virginia University, includes Suzanne El Sanadi of Grove City College, “Operation Pastorius: A Nation’s Call for Justice;” Jennifer Tharp of Carnegie Mellon University, “The Persecution of Polish Nationhood: The Role of the Katyn Forest Massacre;” and Andrew Smith of Grove City College, “Molded by Conflict, Domestic and Foreign: The Roots of Contemporary Problems in Columbia.” The second session, The Renaissance World, moderated by Mark Graham of Grove City College, includes Heather Hill of West Virginia University, “The Innocent Monarch: An Historian’s Investigation of King Henry III;” Veronica Bialas of Grove City College, “Trinitarian Medicine: A Look at the Christian Trinity in Renaissance Medical Theory;” and Jeff LaRosa of the University of Pittsburgh, “Surgical Texts and the Surgeon in 16th Century Castile.” The third session, 20th Century Politics, moderated by Gary Scott Smith of Grove City College, includes Max Matherne of Grove City College, “From New Deal Coalition to New Democratic Coalition: The Democratic Party, the Politics of Identity, and the Shifting Constituency, 1968-1980;” Ryan J. Maloney of Mercyhurst University, “Death by Reform: Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of the Soviet Union;” and Jenna Tomahosky of Washington and Jefferson College, “Chechnya: 1994-1996, Yeltsin’s Paradigm of Disaster.” The fourth presentation, The Ancient World, moderated by Dr. Gilbert Bogner of Saint Vincent College, includes Joshua Lopel of Grove City College, “Kataphraktoi: The Western Experiment in Eastern Arms;” Benjamin Cleary of Saint Vincent College, “The Foundations of an Empire: Genghis Khan’s Early Life;” Carolyn Augspurger of Grove City College, “Religious Ideology as a Source of Imperial Power for Ancient Empires;” and Carl R. Rice, II, of West Virginia University, “Staging Augustus: Characterization of the Emperor in Augustan Literature.” The final presentation, Africa and the Middle East, moderated by Dr. Susan Sommers of Saint Vincent College, includes Jeffrey A. Zayas of Carnegie Mellon University, “It Is Fatal to Enter Any War Without the Will to Win It;” Luke Franchuk of Westminster College, “Thank Allah for Oil: Saudi Arabia, Royal Succession, and Religious Tradition;” and Norman Brendan Coulson of Pennsylvania State University, “Great Lakes Region Africa: Genocide and Ethnicity.”

Conference arrangements are being coordinated by Dr. Karen Kehoe, assistant professor of history at Saint Vincent College and moderator of the Xi Nu chapter of Phi Alpha Theta. For further details, contact Dr. Kehoe at 724 805-2734 or karen.kehoe@email.stvincent.edu

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